the path of the sage must become the path of the hero

Flight time September 20th, 2010

Winds were gusting up to 29 MPH today (approximately 46 kph) early this morning at about 08:00. [EDIT: they actually got up to 38 MPH, but by the time I found this out, I was off the field.]

“Doesn’t Jonny want to go out and play?” Cimmy asked me, referring to my inner little boy that always gets VERY excited when the wind kicks up. I said that I did, but I didn’t want to go elsewhere to fly since school was in session. I mentioned that I’d just need to check into the office, and I decided I would go ahead and do so.

The secretary at the office seemed very confused. She offered me the number for the lady that schedules events on the field, which might yet come in handy if I could ever manage a kite festival of sorts. She asked if this was a one time thing and I said yes, and then explained that the vice principal had told me to check in– I saw him go into an office and so I mentioned him by name. She went to go get him and he remembered who I was. So then I got a visitor’s pass, he explained he’d fill the P.E. teacher in after I told him where I’d be, and I was off.

What can I say, lacking pictures? If I had a camera mounted to my head or something, I might be able to show you some. Cimmy stayed at home so she could clean up (not to mention I saw she had company when I came back). But let this old one she took suffice:

Just imagine much faster wind conditions. With the wind as fast as it was, this was really the only kite in my bag I felt comfortable flying, and I still managed to break both my lines– one of them twice, but both snapped only once. Does that make sense? One of these days I’ll stop messing with that twisted Dacron and get some proper braided Dacron lines.

So after I broke the lines the final time, I packed up and headed back to the office. I talked with the VP again when I got a drink, explaining I’d still be out there if lines hadn’t broken. I was well within an hour of school closing time, and he confirmed what I’d noticed already– that the football team practice and some soccer games would be taking place shortly thereafter. It was 13:17, and closing time was 14:18. It’s 14:40 now, so you understand that I took some time to fix my lines and chat with Cimmy’s company, and then write this post.

If the wind calms down enough, I’ll see about flying the plastic delta kite again– the one that I’m painting glow-in-the-dark stars and a moon on. Pictures are in my Flickr widget.